RECENT HISTORY suggests we should be embarrassed by our pro sports teams, which have not given the Bay Area a reason for loud boasts or sustained braggadocio for 11 years, since 1994.

That’s when the A’s had future Hall of Famers hitting, pitching and managing. That was the last year the 49ers had future Hall of Famers on both sides of the ball. That was the last year the Raiders, then in Los Angeles, had an actual Hall of Famer, Art Shell, as head coach.

Coincidentally,’94 also is the year the Warriors — with an All-NBA selection, a Rookie of

the Year and a Dream Teamer — last made the playoffs.

So which team is most likely to break the dry spell, winning it all, reviving our swagger while convincing our best and brightest to flip a few flaming cars?

The Warriors. Who else?

This is not to say the W’s are close to winning a championship; they’re not. They don’t yet belong in the same room with a team dreaming of rings.

Still, the promise of turnaround from our longtime punching bags is enough to place them first when measuring their top-end possibilities alongside those of the A’s, Giants, Raiders, Niners and Sharks.

Why the Warriors? Because only they employ a future Hall of Famer still in his prime. Baron Davis is no lock, but as a 26-year-old multipleAll-Star, he’s in excellent position.

See, championships tend to be synonymous with Hall of Famers. No matter the sport, it is exceedingly difficult to win it all without one in his prime. If you can’t win with two, shame on you.

Other than Davis, who else is there in the Bay Area?

Well, the Raiders have Randy Moss and Warren Sapp. Hmm. Moss is on the fast track to Canton. But can he remain productive and avoid derailing his career? Sapp has something left, but he left his prime in Tampa.

The Giants have Barry Bonds, a lock. Despite the unique tardiness of his “prime,” though, he still turns 42 next summer.

The 49ers have Bryant Young, the old tiger of the squad, who might get in but certainly is no lock.

The A’s, who once had Rickey and Tony and Eck, have no one. We’ll discuss Eric Chavez after he has played in a few All-Star Games. He awaits his first.

The Sharks have stars in Evgeni Nabokov and Patrick Marleau, but they also sat tight while some of the NHL’s best talent moved to new teams.

While the A’s and Sharks should be highly competitive for the foreseeable future, both lack the touchstone player capable of lifting his team to the top.

Insofar as a more youthful Bonds couldn’t do it with the Giants, and Moss shows no desire to be the heart of the Raiders, only the Warriors, with Davis, have That Guy.

Put it this way, Bonds and Moss are singular talents, each arguably the best at what he does, but neither brings the intangibles that separate contenders from winners.

Which is why Davis can have a greater impact on his team than any other local star. He’s the unquestioned floor boss who commands respect yet remains one of the guys. He welcomes the pressure. He’s comfortable with the demands and expectations that accompany stardom.

It’s conceivable no local star has meant more to his team, in more ways, since the 49ers and their fans became accustomed to Joe Montana cracking jokes while walking on water.

Montana had plenty of help, though, as did Steve Young, the last 49ers quarterback to win a championship. Young could throw to Jerry Rice, then head for the sideline to watch Deion Sanders shut down receivers.

Davis needs more help than that he’ll get from budding All-Star Jason Richardson. No other Warrior has shown clear signs of joining the league’s elite, coach Mike Montgomery still has much to prove at the NBA level, and the team still can’t spell defense without a dictionary.

Yet the W’s are, in terms of personnel, one impact big man away from contending for a championship. Consider how much better they’d be if the post were manned by Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett or Jermaine O’Neal. Or even Ben Wallace or Jamaal Magloire.

While the same could be said of a dozen teams in the NBA, it also shows how far the Warriors came by making one move.

The problem, you say, is getting that big man. No way Warriors chief Chris Mullin can steal a big man capable of making a difference.

Yeah, that’s what many said about acquiring a Jason Kidd-type point guard, before Mullin stole Davis from New Orleans.

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